If you don’t carry your own collision coverage, and you’re involved in an accident where the other driver won’t admit fault, you could be stuck without a vehicle for months.
You may think that you’re a careful driver, who would never cause an accident, so you shouldn’t need this coverage.
And you may really be an extremely good driver – but that doesn’t mean that the at-fault driver will always accept responsibility for an accident without a fight.
Consider these common scenarios.
You’re stopped at a red light. Then all of a sudden you feel an impact. You get out of the car and see that you’re the front car in a pileup.
Clearly, this accident is anybody’s fault except for yours. But if the drivers of the vehicles behind you can’t agree on whether it’s the last car that started the whole thing, or whether two of the vehicles actually contributed, you won’t see anyone taking full responsibility and you won’t be seeing a check for your property damage until those two drivers fight it out in court.
You slow down for traffic and get struck in the rear. There’s only one other vehicle that appears to be involved in the accident. But then the driver who rear-ended you claims that a phantom vehicle actually caused the accident and pushed him into you.
Again, not having collision coverage will put you in a situation where you’re counting on people to do the right thing. In this scenario, you’ll have to wait until your court date before you’ll have your property damage fixed.
Not to mention a serious liability dispute, for example, a lane change or red light dispute. These cases often come down to word vs. word and if you don’t have your own coverage, you could be out of a car for good.
Keep in mind that you may have to pay for your own estimate, or pay for the repairs on your own before you can ask for reimbursement from the liability carrier. The costs you pay to obtain the estimate will not be reimbursed.
If you choose to carry collision coverage you can save yourself a big headache by making your claim through your own insurance carrier if the other driver won’t accept responsibility.
If you’ve been in an accident, the last thing you want to worry about is getting your car repaired or replaced.
If you have collision coverage, your carrier will estimate the damage and get the vehicle repaired.
Then they will attempt to recover that amount from the at-fault driver – including any deductible you paid.
If you or a family member have been injured or killed in a Maryland car accident and would like to consult an experienced personal injury attorney for free, contact our office at (410) 995-1515 to schedule an appointment at one of our office locations in Columbia or throughout Maryland or visit us online.
